The present invention is directed to systems and methods for supply chain management. More specifically, without limitation, the present invention relates to enhanced integration and management of logistics for supply chains.
The current logistics process is a tower of Babel. The process of procuring, replenishing, transporting and storing a part or product involves hundreds of disparate, discontinuous and disconnected information systems.
For example, a large manufacturer may broadcast its plan raw material requirements and work-in-process requirements using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) formats such as the TDCC 830 format (Transportation Data Coordinating Committee). This format will provide material forecast, but this format does not authorize the release of material. Yet another format, the 862 EDI, authorizes the release of a specified quantity of a part and dictates the arrival date of the part quantity. In general this arrival date is a “must arrive by” rather than “must arrive on this unique date”.
Following this, a supplier must develop an internal process and information system to parse the 862 into a package quantity, then into a ship quantity, then into a shipment containerization. Currently a part release is not subdivided into an optimum frequency. Rather, the entire release quantity is assume to be shipped at one time, to arrive on or before the scheduled date.
The next step in this process is the selection of a transportation mode-LTL (Less Than Truckload), TL (Truckload), Parcel, TOFC (Trailer-On-Flatcar)-followed then by the selection of a specific carrier within that modal selection. This process also is produced by discrete, unique information systems that are not integrated back to the material release itself.
Following the selection of the mode and carrier, the tender of the part shipment is now required. This is a specific communication to a carrier that outlines the shipment, its attributes, time of pick-up and its expected arrival date, (and often specific time appointment). To this point, the buyer's purchase order is the controlling document. At the point of shipment, six new documents are created that are interrelated but historically have been disconnected. These are: Bill of Lading (BOL), Shipping Order (SO), Freight Bill (FB), Manifest, Receipt and Packing List.
Once a shipment is tendered, its progress is managed by a carrier's information system. No two carriers use the same IT system. Furthermore, these information systems do not generally integrate with, or communicate to, the core manufacturing information system that generated the initial material release (e.g., 862). Nor do they While in progress a shipment requires its own information regarding price (freight bill and invoice), progress (Advance Ship Notice), quality, timeliness and vendor. These systems, too, are discrete.
Furthermore, a shipment can often change modes and carriers during its short life. A five day shipment from Mexico to Michigan, for example, can be handled by four or five different transportation companies en-route to its destination. Each of these firms will use unique information technologies that do not communicate with each other.
To further complicate the information management of a shipment, it is often the case that one or several of the participants in the chain of the shipment do not use electronic communication. Often there is no electronically automated method for information management-standard phone, fax or manual written communication is used.
For example, examine the inbound parts procurement and shipment process for the Automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) community-the largest manufacturing enterprises in the world. Despite being the most automated in the world, these processes are still replete with manual process. The first communication in this chain—the 862 EDI—is uniformly used to communicate to the Tier One supplier. However, the other participants in this chain of material movement often cannot accept an EDI file, use incompatible information systems, or have no means to communicate electronically and rely on manual information process such as telephone, fax and mail. The vast majority of transportation firms cannot process a manufacturer's 862 message—the total part quantity is not meaningful to them.
The result is a Tower of Babel—no easy, common communication language among the parties to a shipment. This discontinuity of information causes duplication of process among all participants in the chain of events that comprise a shipment. This discontinuity causes additional time in the chain of events, additional uncertainty regarding arrival, quantity and quality of a shipment. The additional time and uncertainty then require additional excess inventory to support the material flow. This Babel exists despite a common requirement for basic information: How much should be shipped? How much was shipped? Who has possession of the shipment now? Where is the shipment now?
The systems and methods according to the present invention provide solutions to these and other management issues associated with supply chain logistics. Specifically, the present invention provides a common, web-enabled communication utility that serves the entire community involved in a product shipment: buyer, transporter, logistics manager and seller.